As we go to air, it's been reported in France that Mohamed Merah, the man suspected of killing seven people and who's been under siege in his home in Toulouse, is dead after a sustained burst of gunfire was heard.

For the latest we're joined in our London studio by our Europe correspondent Philip Williams.

Phil, thanks for being there and has it actually been confirmed that Merah is dead?

PHILIP WILLIAMS, EUROPE CORRESPONDET: Yes, it has, from the Interior Minister Claude Gueant, who gave a blow-by-blow description of the operation.

He was shot dead in a hail of gunfire, an exchange of gunfire. The police stormed his flat. They couldn't find him, he wasn't there in the first room as they expected and then as they used a camera to see if they could see him in another room, in the bathroom, he came bursting out, firing from his guns and jumped out the window.

He injured two policemen in the protest, but was gunned down. He is now dead. So, the siege is at an end, but not in the way that the police or prosecutors wanted.

TONY JONES: Yeah, I mean, the Interior Minister, as you say, quite dramatic, said the man wanted to die with weapons in his hand. I mean, is there any evidence of that apart from the account of the police?

PHILIP WILLIAMS: Well that is exactly what did happen, according to the police, and we had conflicting reports. Early reports quoting him saying that he didn't want to die as a martyr, but he has.

Exactly what happened of course will no doubt be scrutinised over the next few days, but it won't be seen as a glorious end for the police in the sense that they've ended up with injuries and their prime suspect is dead, a person of course that they wanted to interview, they wanted to find out: was he a lone wolf? Was he a part of a wider network? And if so. how to shut it down.

TONY JONES: Horrific case, Phil, with the children who were killed, the Rabbi, the soldiers. The reaction in France has been very interesting. Tell us what the reaction to the death is.

PHILIP WILLIAMS: Well, it's too early to say now because it's just happened, but no doubt immense relief, especially amongst the general population around Toulouse who've been terrorised for the last 10 days by this gunman.

But also questions, bigger questions of course about the efficiency of the security services who apparently had him under surveillance. How did he get away with this? How did he get through the first killing, the second killing and then of course the awful third killing if they were watching him?

So there'll be some very, very big questions for them to answer - not just the immediate police operation that we've seen. And of course we remember their initial attempt to storm was failed and two policemen were injured in that, but also the broader question of if we were watching him, how could he have got away with this?

TONY JONES: And very briefly, Phil, we're nearly out of time, but there are other broader questions. The press reaction to this man and what he's done has been also very interesting, split in fact between people who are calling for a tougher line on Islamic sectarianism and those who are calling for tolerance.

PHILIP WILLIAMS: That's right. And the president, Nicolas Sarkozy, calling for tolerance. He's on that side of the fence.

Of course his political opponents in the middle of an election campaign, Marine Le Pen from the National Front, saying, "Look, see I told you. This is what I was warning about: radical Islamisation of our society. We've got to crack down hard." So this will polarise those views, no doubt.